ThreadWritten offers creative learning experiences in Embroidery, Art, and Traditional Textiles through Workshops and Travel Retreats in the US and Europe.

I support women artisans, traditional textile practices and the preservation of cultural heritage through research, education and the cultivation of a global community of makers.

From my family’s art contest to the preservation of embroidery in Eastern Europe and my current art practice,

listen to my interview on the Fiber Talk podcast, March ‘22.

From San Francisco to Budapest to Amsterdam

Let’s talk embroidery and travel!

Email me: sarah@threadwritten.com

I love connecting with people, sharing the beauty of traditions, and teaching embroidery. In 2009 I attended an artist's residency program in Budapest, as a photographer and mixed media artist. Visiting the Neprajzi Ethnographic Museum one afternoon, the traditional Hungarian clothing and textiles set my heart on fire, sparking the first ideas for ThreadWritten. 

At home in San Francisco, I couldn’t stop thinking about the vibrant floral patterns and detailed stitching. In 2012 I ventured to Transylvania, Romania searching for women who still practice Kalotaszeg written embroidery, called írásos in Hungarian. Through serendipity and the help of generous people, I met women who embroider in the disappearing style. For three years I manufactured bags and pillows made with a select handful of artisans in the Kalotaszeg region. I never thought I’d visit Romania and this fall I’ll return for the sixth time.

Since 2014 I have been lecturing on Hungarian embroidery and teaching workshops on the Transylvanian Written style. In 2016 I expanded my research, teaching, and personal art practice through textile artist’s residencies in Iceland and Mexico, followed by a residency in The Netherlands, independent embroidery study in Lviv, Ukraine, and travel in Portugal. I have taught and lectured for Selvedge Magazine, Textile Arts Council at the de Young Museum, the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design, Embroiderers’ Guild of America, Tatter in Brooklyn, NY, The New York Botanical Garden, The John C. Campbell Folk School, Fashion For Good Museum in Amsterdam, and Crafts Council Nederland.

In April 2019, I moved from Oakland, California to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. In August I led my first Gather & Stitch Cultural Textile Retreat in Viana do Castelo, Portugal. This marked a new focus: small group, creative, embroidery retreats where we learn from artisans in lesser-traveled regions of Portugal, Hungary, and Romania. In the summer of 2024, I moved to Rotterdam.

I hold an MFA in Visual Arts (installation, mixed media) from Rutgers University and a BA in Studio Art and French Studies from Scripps College, Claremont, CA. I grew up in Sonoma County, California and have worked as an artist’s assistant in Brooklyn, an architecture archivist in Ithaca, NY, and a massage therapist in San Francisco. My fine art has been exhibited in the U.S. and Europe. Follow my art practice: @sarahpedlowstudio.

CONTACT: sarah@threadwritten.com

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NL: +31 (0)6 19585251
KvK: 81841124
BTW/VAT ID: NL003609553B75